Socorro Man Sentenced to Five Years in Prison for Federal Methamphetamine Trafficking Conviction

ALBUQUERQUE – Joel Martinez, 31, of Socorro, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Santa Fe, N.M., to 60 months in prison followed by four years of supervised release for his methamphetamine trafficking conviction.

Martinez was arrested in Aug. 2015, on a criminal complaint charging him with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute on Aug. 26, 2015, in Socorro County, N.M. According to the complaint, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant on Martinez’s residence on Aug. 26, 2015, and seized 392 grams of methamphetamine, a disassembled firearm, and drug paraphernalia. Martinez was indicted on the same charge on Sept. 22, 2015.

On June 10, 2016, Martinez pled guilty to the indictment. In entering the guilty plea, Martinez admitted that on Aug. 26, 2015, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant on his residence in Socorro, and found approximately 392 grams of methamphetamine, which he intended to distribute to others.

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the DEA, the HIDTA Region I Narcotics Task Force and the Socorro Police Department, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Presiliano Torrez.

The HIDTA Region I Narcotics Task Force is comprised of the Albuquerque Police Department, Albuquerque office of the DEA, Pojoaque Tribal Police Department, Rio Rancho Police Department, Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office and the Valencia County Sheriff’s Office. The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program was created by Congress with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988. HIDTA is a program of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) which provides assistance to federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States and seeks to reduce drug trafficking and production by facilitating coordinated law enforcement activities and information sharing.